Sell by Dates by Karen King
I don't know about you but I strictly adhere to 'sell by dates' on food - or anything else for that matter. If the label tells me that the bag of potatoes has to be used by 20 April then in the bin they go on the 21 April. My partner keeps telling me that 'sell by dates' are only a guide and I should use my common sense. If the food looks and smells okay then I can still eat it but I don't like to take the risk so throw it out.
I think publishing can be a bit like this. Someone decides that a book is old-fashioned, out-dated and that people won't be interested in reading it anymore. It's too 'gentle', set too long ago, isn't pacey enough. So the book gets remaindered. Or no more are printed once stocks run out. It doesn't matter that the book is very popular, that people still ask for it. It's past its 'sell by date' so in the bin it goes - metaphorically speaking. No matter how much we ask for a favourite book we can't buy it, unless we are lucky enough to track down a second hand copy on the internet.
To me, the big plus side of e-publishing is that all those wonderful stories that we still want to read but publishers have decided aren't commercial or modern enough are available to us once again. With ebooks there is no 'sell by date'. As long as a reader wants to read them they're available. And as authors, it means that our 'binned' books can be given a new lease of life. Which makes it a winner all around.
Firstborn
Comments
yes, don't let old books die. we still read the bible, don't we?
A suggestion would be to look at the 'use by' date as a guide before you buy something.
As for books, I don't truly believe any have what you refer to as a sell by date.